Tire-chain tool



s. e. DOOLI'TTLE.

TIRE CHAIN TOOL.

APPLICATION FVILED JULY 1. 1919.

1,360,199. Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

INIIENTOR By A TTORNEY dy waza;

SHERWOOD G. DOOLI'ITLE, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

TIRE-CHAIN TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent. 9atented NOV. 23, 1920.

Application filed J'u1y 1, 1919. Serial No. 3083032.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Srinnwooo (i. l)oo turns, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Tire-Chain Tool, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. 1

This invention relates to chain tools and has particular reference to a hand operated tool for opening and closing the hooks of chains such as are commonly used for nonskid purposes on automobile wheels.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide peculiarly shaped awmeinliiers so designed as to reduce to a minimum the likelihood of slipping of the tool in the opening of a chain link.

With the foregoing and other objects in View the invention consists in the arrange: ment and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein,

' still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation showing one manner of use of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the head or jaw portions of the tool with the jaws open.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

. Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of the jaw portions of the tool closed.

Fig. 5 is a section corresponding to the section of Fig. 3 but with the jaws closed and showing how a chain loop is gripped by the peculiar face members of the jaws.

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view indieating more especially the angularly disposed chisel edges of the jaws.

Referring now more specifically to the invention 1 provide a tool having peculiar shaped jaws l0 and 11 pivoted together at 12 at what may be termed the shoulder portions and having respectively a pair of handles 13 and 14 constituting integral or otherwise rigid connection with the jaws 10 and 11, the handles being movable toward each other for the closing of the jaws the same as in the action of ordinary pliers.

The shoulder portion of each jaw as indicated at 15 is approximately one half the thickness of the head portion 16, the two shoulder portions mating together in such away that'the head portions being of equal thickness lie essentially in the same plane while the shoulder portions of the jaws lie in close parallel planes.

Each jaw is provided in the same plane as the adjacent shoulder portion with a ta pered or wedge shaped tooth 17 the edge of which is smooth like a chisel, being fairly sharp and bounded on one side with a flat face 17*" lying substantiallyin the plane of the meeting faces of the shoulder portions, while the outer or opposite face 17 is rounded or convex to the place where it merges into the outer face of the jaw or head structure. The edge or point of each tooth is substantially straight and directed practically toward. the axis of the pivot 12. The teeth 17 are substantially the same on both jaws and when the tool is closed each tooth has bearing contact with the opposite head 16[ j As will be seen best in Fig. 1 the length of the chisel edges 17 of the teeth 17 is less than one half of the distance from the outer points of theteeth to the pivot where by there is observed a clearance or opening 18 between the inner points of the teeth and the shoulder portions of the jaws. The head 16 of the jaw 10 is provided on its inner surface bounding said clearance 18 with a substantially plane face 19 which is bounded on what may be termed the front face of the tool by a sharp or acute angle 20 whence said face flares rearward and outward with respect to the pivot 12. The other jaw head is provided with a face 21 that is concaved outward from the pivot or opposite the inclined face 19 and may if desired be milled, fluted, or otherwise roughened but I indicate forthe purpose what I have found to be the best form in which the concaved face 21 is ribbed with the ribs extending parallel to one another and longitudinally of the tool as a whole or perpendicular to the pivot. Each working face of the tool in cluding its tooth may be made of high grade steel suitably welded or otherwise secured to metal of a cheaper grade.

In operation, assuming that a connector link C is to have its hooks opened for the separation of a chain or other purpose the teeth 17. may be caused to approach each other within the closed hooks h in any position that is most convenient for such operation at the time such as indicated either in F 1g. 1 or in Fig. at. The chisel edges of the teeth sweep one over the other close together in passing into or through the hooks h and with an easy action, requiring little manual power such power being applied to the handles 1'3 and 1% as will be well understood. As the teeth pass through the members of the link, any tendency of the link to slip or its members to spread apart, is arrested by the engagement of the said members with the shoulders of the aws. After the hooks are thus opened the desired separation or reconnection of the chain will be effected, and thereafter the hooks may again be closed by engaging the hooks between the faces 19 and 21 of the jaws while the jaws are separated as in Fig. 3 and upon again applying force to the handles the hooks will be closed as shown in Fig. 5. The corrugations of the face'21 will prevent slippage of the bottoms of the hooks while the acute angle bounding the face 19 and the front face of the jaw carrying it will prevent slippage of the link from the other face 19'. Obviously the hooks may be both closed at the same time as well as both openedrat the same time. I wish to point out especially that the shoulders of the jaws and inclination; of the chisel edge of each tooth 17 toward the pivot axis 12 is of peculiar advantage in preventing the slippage of the hooks while they are being opened. In other words the effective thickness of each wedge constituted by the teeth is greater on the top or side remote from the pivot than on the inner side thereby providing a taper both toward the pivot and toward the chisel edge 17.

At 23 I show a hook formed on the inner face of the end of one of the handles, such hook being useful for opening the side chain hooks, for drawing cotter pins, or other purposes.

I claim:

l. A tire chain tool, comprising pivoted handles having at one end jaws, each provided on its inner face with a tooth and a shoulder at the base of the tooth. the tooth of one jaw being opposite the shoulder of the other jaw. each tooth having its inner face fiat and its outer face beveled, tmviml its end and in direction of the pivot forming a wedge shaped tooth having a chisel edge.

:2. A, tire chain tool, comprising pivoted handles having at one end thickened jaws provided on their inner faces at their outer ends with teeth, the teeth being of less thickness the the jaws and of a width less than the length of the jaws, whereby shoulders at the base of the teeth and wide opposed hearing surfaces inward of the teeth will be formed, the tooth of one jaw being opposite the shoulder of the other jaw, each tooth having its inner face fiat and its outer face beveled, to ard its end and in direction of the pivot forming a wedge shaped tooth having a chisel edge one of the said bearing surfaces of the jaws being ilat and inclined and the other concave.

SHEPJVOOD G. DOOLI' JLE. 

